Reviews by Viking:

Pale golden brew, very clear (perhaps a bit too pale and clear) with only a few lazily rising trails of CO2. Beautiful, creamy, white head. Good retention, leaves behind a fair amount of lace. A bit of sweet cloying malt in the aroma, but otherwise mostly herbal hops and slight hints of apple. Taste just seems off. Very cloying sweetness, with a slightly soapy, hoppy flavor (herbal, almost but not quite piney). Has an unpleasant grain flavor - not like it's made with corn or any poor adjunct, but still not quite right. Fairly good mouthfeel, moderate bodied, smooth with plenty of oily slickness. Overall, not something I'd like to have again. Unfortunately, I bought a sixer last week and I have four left.

This beer was given to me by my cousin's girlfriend who knows the owner of the brewery. I must say that I appreciate the free beer but I would not purchase any of this ever again. The pour was nothing special, a light gold color with no head to speak of at all. The smell was allmost non existant but for a slightly fruity scent and a touch of malt. The taste is just way too sweet, with no balance at all and a bit of a solvent like alchohol flavor that a couple of other reviewers notes as well. This beer would not be bad if they just added some good hoppy kick to it, but as it stands it is just way too sweet and cloying.

A good, sweet and malty beer. Light coloured, hardly a true amber brew. The 7.1% abv was a bit extreme and out of place -- lots of fussel alcohols on the palate, which also made it less enjoyable and drinkable as a result.

Chewy and slick body, spicy alcohol with suggestions of cinnamon and black pepper. Sweetness is abundant underneath the alcohol, flavours of honey and dough biscuit come to mind. Fruitiness is of ripe golden raisins and pears. Faint solvent like character. Hops are there but lost in a way as they through down a bitterness and leave. Warmth from the alcohol increases and a residual sweetness in the finish.

The higher alcohols are a bit too much to handle and throw the brew off balance, add the sweetness to this and it drops a drinkability even lower. Not a horrible beer at all but just not something I’d go back to anytime soon.

Golden color with a huge head that leaves very nice sticky lacing. Smells like yeast and alcohol. Thats really about it. Taste is similar, but fortunately tastes better than the smell. Maybe a slight fruitiness and some hops. ABV is very noticeable. Light mouthfeel. Lightly carbonated. Overall, this tastes like a stronger version of something from AB. No depth, really no flavors except the 2 previously mentioned. But...It'll getcha drunk!

Trader Joe's exclusive. I remember when this stuff was made in Minnesota I think. Now its CA. Golden pour with plenty of haze. Mild aroma, almost yeastyesque.

Taste, yeah, slight belgian yeast feel to it, not like it has a bunch of clove or banana, but otherwise it seems to be more of a belgian ipa than a strong ale.

Just kind of a yeasty, low hop, average bitterness beer, malt profile is unremarkable, doesn't contribute anything, doesn't offer anything specifically to the taste. Really kind of a weird conglomeration of nothing that stands out. Not thick, not hoppy, not really all that bitter, no roast, just kind of a hodgepodge batch.

12 oz undated bottle served in a pint glass. Bottled states "Brewed by River Trent Brewing, Ukiah, CA"

Pours a hazy golden-amber with a modest off-white head. Head has good durability.

Aroma of light malt and hay, with little sign of higher ABV other than a pleasant floral component. The higher ABV, however, is evident in both the taste and the mouthfeel (with a slight burn); these effects seem to be the main trait of the finish and aftertaste. The flavor ends with a bitter. alcohol flavor all too similar to a cheap malt liquor.

Poured a pretty standard straw color with a little orange to it. Quite a bit of big fluffy white head on it. Strong doughiness on the nose with some malt coming through. A bit of hops as well. Taste is not real great. Tastes sweet up front with a funky bitter finish. Light mouthfeel. This beer is pretty drinkable. It's not a bad beer for the price.

This beer of apparently line-blurring classification is moderately hazed and a dark gold color. The head is ivory-colored, big-bubbled and fluffy, easing down to less than one finger in height but retaining that well. Lacing is at about the median in its strength and resiliency.Sugar and toast hit the nostrils, with fruits contributing an interesting part of that with tang as well. It's followed by herb, a touch of not-quite-cheesy funk (?) and some grains pulling in underneath. I wouldn't call it bad.The flavor ends up confused; it overripe dark fruits seem steeped in sugar then fusel alcohol and weird almost rotten or wet wood notes come out, but some biscuit helps to tame it before it derails completely. Unlike the aroma, there's only a vague note of hops bitterness, but the herb is there.Somehow on the thinner side while feeling almost thick, there's a stickiness that fortunately doesn't last the entire sip. The body manages to hang on to medium and builds up, while spicy dryness cuts the sweetness.This beer straddles the border of pass/fail.

Note:
My bottle says, "brewed and bottled by River Trent Brewery Co., Ukiah, CA." I don't know if the brewery has changed or if only the name has changed. The bottle is identical to the picture on this page.

Pours a medium golden yellow with a small white head that melts to fine lacing and then nothing.
Aromas of sweet malt and bready yeast...warm dinner rolls.
Taste is sweet malt and a balanced sharp hop bite afterwards...not really bitter...just sharp, clean and drying.
Aftertaste is of the crisp hops.
This is a beer you can drink lots of in an afternoon and find yourself in big trouble. The 7.1% alcohol is totally hidden.
So be warned...this is an American Strong Ale that is very well disguised as a mild APA

Color is lighter than I expected. Its a clear light gold color with a basically white thin, tiny bubbled head. Aroma is, well this doesn't really smell like anything. Maybe some light graininess mixed with corniness. Tastes about the same. A bit disappointing. Mouthfeel is slightly syrupy. Overall, not so great.

I picked up a sixer of this at Trader Joe's in downtown Chicago for a paltry $5.99.

A - Vibrant gold with only a hint of haze. This one has a small but persistent white cap and only leaves a tiny bit of lace on the glass. Not really a looker, in she?

S - Oh, that's not what I expected at all. I picked this up in a hurry on a quick errand before checking in to our hotel, and I knew nothing about the beer other than that I've never tried it or even heard of it before... and it was $5.99. Upon smelling this one, I was pleasantly surprised to smell quite a large amount of booze and a hay-like farm note that had me thinking that maybe this is a Belgian strong pale ale (one of my favorite styles). This isn't as complex as a BSPA, but it does have the horsepower.

T - Graham crackers, freshly mowed hay, and booze. This has a candi sugar flavor to it that I suspect is from the high octane recipe, but its not overly sweet or goopey. This is, in fact, very taught and attenuated, and the flavors are simple but honest. It does have a bit of a Belgian pale ale hop profile though... I wonder if thats what they were going for?

M - Big, strong, and firm. Oh tsssstop it silly! Seriously though, this is a big bastard of a beer.

D - It tastes like a really high quality malt liquor, and I mean that as a compliment. This tastes like what strong brew should taste like, but I can't help thinking that maybe this should be in the BSPA category... thats just the flavor profile that I'm getting. Not bad stuff, honestly. I'd buy it again at this price, but put it on the same $$ shelf as Duvel and there is no contest.

Smells cheap- pale malt dominates but the simplicity and dullness are of a caliber not whiffed except in adjuncts. I also get a bit of hops (smells like Hallertau).

Taste is even more disturbing- pale malts, a little citrus, and a little hop dryness are all overshadowed by a tart/dirty yeast taste that again reminds me of an adjunct lager. Finishes semi-sweet/semi-dry.

Mouthfeel is tolerable- medium light body with moderate carbonation. Cannot cover up the taste. What is in this brew? Perhaps its namesake... Do not buy.

Fat Weasel Ale: 12 oz bottle from trader Joe’s, 83 cents a bottle. Slightly hazy beer, with a Golden hue, and a frothy thick white head, that is very long lasting. Really bad aroma, like rotten honey. The taste follows the nose, pretty bad. Its got a cloying, and unpleasant sweetness, and long lasting/bad malt taste. Not good.

Golden color with an off-white head.
Aroma of sweet pale malts, some hops, and also alcohol.

Taste is a bit off. There's a solvent like flavor that you don't have to search for. Not overwhelming, but obvious. Sweet malts with some hop bitterness to balance. Sweetness dominates. Some hop bitterness present, but there doesn't seem to be much hop flavor. Bitterness lingers a bit at the finish. The 7.1% ABV seems a bit out of place in this beer.

Good mouthfeel.
Drinkability knocked back a notch due to the off flavor.
Overall this might be a pretty good beer if they correct the solvent like taste. Could use a bigger hop presence IMO.